I joined a political party

I've nearly always voted Labour, apart from that one time when I was a student and the Liberals were promising something good to do with tuition fees so I voted selfishly. Look how that turned out. I voted Labour because the were the one big party that represented my views the most. I never really paid much attention to the smaller parties, because I knew they didn't have a chance of being voted to power. And therein lies the paradox for smaller parties. You may agree with what they're saying but you don't vote for them, because they won't get in and so they don't and they remain a small party and so it goes on.

I bet if any of my readers actually read the Green Party's manifesto they'd wonder why every party wasn't promising the same things. It's reads like a list of "Oh, of course that's what we should do! Why aren't we doing that already?!" They are not "I think think this is the best we can realistically achieve" policies. They how our country and indeed the world should be like.

So I'm breaking the cycle. I'm putting all my eggs in one basket and I'm voting Green. I've joined and I'm supporting them financially. If my vote and my money can help them get one AM in to the Welsh Assembly this year, then the Green voice will be heard in the Senedd. If you vote for them, it will show that their support is increasing and maybe next time around they will put forward more candidates for selection and campaign better in your area to get more votes. If everyone who's ever thought about voting Green but thought it might be a wasted vote, breaks the trend and actually votes for them, then some real progress could be made. Imagine if they even got as far as being a minority party in a coalition in Wales. Like it or not but we can now really see how much the Liberals were holding back the Torys in the Westminster government. The Tories have done more damage in one year on their own that they did in the time they were in coalition. Greens really could make a difference and especially as they'd likely be in coalition with another party on the same side of the political spectrum as them.

I understand tactical voting and I'm terrified that UKIP are going to get way too many AMs this time around. The polls are so depressing. But I implore you to vote with your conscience and send a message to the Greens that you support them, so that they grow in number and confidence and can slowly take more of a grasp on our political landscape. It's not going to happen over night, but we can make a difference for the future.

Please vote Green in the Assembly elections on the 5th of May 2016.